[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 223 (Friday, November 19, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 67724-67726]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-3251]


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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission

[Docket No. CP05-7-000]


Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America; Notice of Intent To 
Prepare an Environmental Assessment for the Proposed Sayre Nominated 
Storage Service Project and Request for Comments on Environmental 
Issues

November 10, 2004.
    The staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or 
Commission) will prepare an environmental assessment (EA) that will 
discuss the environmental impacts of the Sayre Nominated Storage 
Service Project (Sayre), proposed by Natural Gas Pipeline Company of 
America (Natural).

[[Page 67725]]

The Project would include abandonment of natural gas pipeline and 
construction and operation of additional facilities in Beckham County, 
Oklahoma.\1\ This EA will be used by the Commission in its decision-
making process to determine whether the project is in the public 
convenience and necessity.
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    \1\ Natural's application was filed with the Commission under 
section 7 of the Natural Gas Act and Part 157 of the Commission's 
regulations.
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    A fact sheet prepared by the FERC entitled ``An Interstate Natural 
Gas Facility On My Land? What Do I Need To Know?'' was attached to the 
project notice Natural provided to landowners. This fact sheet 
addresses a number of typically asked questions, including the use of 
eminent domain and how to participate in the Commission's proceedings. 
It is available for viewing on the FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov).

Summary of the Proposed Project

    Natural seeks authority to increase its peak day withdrawal level 
at Sayre from 400 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/day) to 600 MMcf/day 
and the maximum working gas capacity at Sayre in Beckham County, 
Oklahoma, from 51.1 billion cubic feet (Bcf) to 57.1 Bcf. This would be 
accomplished by drilling 22 new injection/withdrawal wells, adding 8.3 
miles of pipeline, and installing 2 new compressor units (inside 
Natural's existing Compressor Station 184) with a total rating of 8,285 
horsepower. Natural also proposes to abandon by removal and in place, 
about 1.1 miles of natural gas pipeline.
    The location of the project facilities is shown in Appendix 1.\2\
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    \2\ The appendices referenced in this notice are not being 
printed in the Federal Register. Copies of all appendices, other 
than appendix 1 (maps), are available on the Commission's Web site 
at the ``eLibrary'' link or from the Commission's Public Reference 
Room and Files Maintenance Branch, 888 First Street, NE., 
Washington, DC 20426, or call (202) 502-8371. For instructions on 
connecting to eLibrary refer to the last page of this notice. Copies 
of the appendices were sent to all those receiving this notice in 
the mail.
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Land Requirements for Construction

    Construction of the facilities (including access roads) would 
affect about 162.7 acres of land. Of this, about 110 acres would revert 
to previous use while the rest would be maintained for operation of the 
facilities. The acreage affected includes the 1.1 mile of natural gas 
pipeline that would be abandoned. Natural would use a 100-foot-wide 
right-of-way during construction of its new pipeline, and subsequently 
maintain a 50-foot-wide permanent right-of-way. The construction right-
of-way would be expanded at special work areas (e.g., pipeline crossing 
of the North Fork of the Red River and road crossings).

The EA Process

    The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires the 
Commission to take into account the environmental impacts that could 
result from an action whenever it considers the issuance of a 
Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. NEPA also requires us 
\3\ to discover and address concerns the public may have about 
proposals. This process is referred to as ``scoping.'' The main goal of 
the scoping process is to focus the analysis in the EA on the important 
environmental issues. By this Notice of Intent, the Commission staff 
requests public comments on the scope of the issues to address in the 
EA. All comments received are considered during the preparation of the 
EA. State and local government representatives are encouraged to notify 
their constituents of this proposed action and encourage them to 
comment on their areas of concern.
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    \3\ ''We,'' ``us,'' and ``our'' refer to the environmental staff 
of the Office of Energy Projects (OEP).
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    We will also evaluate possible alternatives to the proposed project 
or portions of the project and make recommendations on how to lessen or 
avoid impacts on the various resource areas.
    Our independent analysis of the issues will be in the EA. Depending 
on the comments received during the scoping process, the EA may be 
published and mailed to federal, state, and local agencies, public 
interest groups, interested individuals, affected landowners, 
newspapers, libraries, and the Commission's official service list for 
this proceeding. A comment period will be allotted for review if the EA 
is published. We will consider all comments on the EA before we make 
our recommendations to the Commission.

Currently Identified Environmental Issues

    We have already identified issues (noise impacts on nearby 
residents, threatened and endangered species, and land use) that we 
think deserve our attention based on a preliminary review of the 
proposed facilities and the environmental information provided by 
Natural. Issues we consider may change based on your comments and our 
analysis.

Public Participation

    You can make a difference by providing us with your specific 
comments or concerns about the project. By becoming a commentor, your 
concerns will be addressed in the EA and considered by the Commission. 
You should focus on the potential environmental effects of the 
proposal, alternatives to the proposal, and measures to avoid or lessen 
environmental impact. The more specific your comments, the more useful 
they will be. Please carefully follow these instructions to ensure that 
your comments are received in time and properly recorded:
     Send an original and two copies of your letter to: Magalie 
R. Salas, Secretary, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 888 First 
St., NE., Room 1A, Washington, DC 20426.
     Label one copy of the comments for the attention of Gas 
Branch 1.
     Reference Docket No. CP05-7-000.
     Mail your comments so that they will be received in 
Washington, DC on or before December 11, 2004.
    Please note that the Commission strongly encourages electronic 
filing of any comments or interventions or protests to this proceeding. 
See 18 CFR 385.2001(a)(1)(iii) and the instructions on the Commission's 
Web site at http://www.ferc.gov under the ``e-Filing'' link and the 
link to the User's Guide. Prepare your submission in the same manner as 
you would if filing on paper and save it to a file on your hard drive. 
Before you can file comments, you will need to create an account by 
clicking on ``login to file'' and then ``New User Account.'' You will 
be asked to select the type of filing you are making. This filing is 
considered a ``comment on filing.''

Becoming an Intervenor

    In addition to involvement in the EA scoping process, you may want 
to become an official party to the proceeding known as an 
``intervenor.'' Intervenors play a more formal role in the process. 
Among other things, intervenors have the right to receive copies of 
case-related Commission documents and filings by other intervenors. 
Likewise, each intervenor must send one electronic copy (using the 
Commission's e-Filing system) or 14 paper copies of its filings to the 
Secretary of the Commission and must send a copy of its filings to all 
other parties on the Commission's service list for this proceeding. If 
you want to become an intervenor you must file a motion to intervene 
according to Rule 214 of the Commission's Rules of

[[Page 67726]]

Practice and Procedure (18 CFR 385.214, see appendix 2).\4\ Only 
intervenors have the right to seek rehearing of the Commission's 
decision.
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    \4\ Interventions may also be filed electronically via the 
Internet in lieu of paper. See the previous discussion on filing 
comments electronically.
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    Affected landowners and parties with environmental concerns may be 
granted intervenor status upon showing good cause by stating that they 
have a clear and direct interest in this proceeding which would not be 
adequately represented by any other parties. You do not need intervenor 
status to have your environmental comments considered.

Environmental Mailing List

    An effort is being made to send this notice to all individuals, 
organizations, and government entities interested in and/or potentially 
affected by the proposed project. This includes all landowners whose 
property may be used temporarily for project purposes or who own homes 
within distances defined in the Commission's regulations of certain 
aboveground facilities.

Availability of Additional Information

    Additional information about the project is available from the 
Commission's Office of External Affairs, at 1-866-208-FERC or on the 
FERC Internet Web site (http://www.ferc.gov) using the eLibrary link. 
Click on the eLibrary link, click on ``General Search'' and enter the 
docket number excluding the last three digits in the docket number 
field. Be sure you have selected an appropriate date range. For 
assistance, contact FERCOnline Support at [email protected], 
or call toll-free (866) 208-3676 or TTY 202-502-8659. The eLibrary link 
also provides access to the texts of formal documents issued by the 
Commission, such as orders, notices, and rulemakings.
    In addition, the Commission now offers a free service called 
eSubscription which allows you to keep track of all formal issuances 
and submittals in specific dockets. This can reduce the amount of time 
you spend researching proceedings by automatically providing you with 
notification of these filings, document summaries and direct links to 
the documents. Go to http://www.ferc.gov/esubscribenow.htm.

Magalie R. Salas,
Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E4-3251 Filed 11-18-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6717-01-P